


Doorway to Darkness (original story)

by CottagesAndForests



Series: C&F Extended Universe [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, LGBTQ Character, Nonbinary Protagonist, Original Fiction, Original Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CottagesAndForests/pseuds/CottagesAndForests
Summary: When I stepped through the door, I was faced with a new world. A place full of creatures straight out of a fantasy story, strange environments, and new people that just look strangely familiar. Sounds pretty nice, right? Well, this world is being consumed, and the being eating it won't be satisfied until it eats mine, and every other world out there. I have to go between worlds to rally my new friends and find a way to close the door before the darkness consumes everything. But of course, it's never as simple as it sounds...
Series: C&F Extended Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748197





	1. The abandoned classroom

It was so noisy. Everywhere I went there were students lounging and chatting, laughing and arguing about whatever asinine topic rich kids usually talked about. Every room I checked was packed full of people wearing their pristine uniforms, a white collared shirt with a dark burgundy blazer, paired with a matching tie and charcoal grey trousers for the boys and a matching ribbon and grey skirt for the girls. Why they even felt the need to gender the uniforms was beyond me. 

Everywhere I went I felt them staring. I was acutely aware of my shirt being crumpled, my blazer being a size too big, my hair probably being a mess. It was obvious I didn't fit in, even I could tell. I was a low income goldfish tossed in a sea of privileged tiger sharks. That is to say, out of my depth. The guys laughed to their mates whenever I walked by, the girls looked at me like I was something their chihuahua made on the carpet. It made me want to scream, say that I'm not some gross creature for them to dissect, but I stuffed it down. Throwing a tantrum didn't fix anything, if I wanted to prove that I deserved to be at this academy I'd have to prove it by working hard. And to do that, I needed to find a place to study.

I'd been wondering the halls for ages, following the map in the back of my planner. I thought I could just sneak into one of the libraries but they were as full and loud as any of the other rooms. I had to find somewhere quiet, otherwise everything would go to waste. I looked up from my map and saw an empty corridor. Huh, there was always at least three people in each one I'd passed so far. Taking it as a promising sign, I kept on forward. The sound of chatter became muted. I felt a rush of relief, but it was followed by a growing sense of unease. There was almost an unnatural quiet to it, like I'd dunked my head underwater. I shook it off and continued forward.

The locker-lined walls stretched onwards. Had I seen a room so far? I wanted to look behind me to check, but a deep tugging in my gut warned me not to. That was definitely concerning. I couldn't hear anything now. No talking, no laughing, no footsteps. No footsteps? I glanced down at my shoes as I walked. I could see them hit the floor, but they made no noise. 

"Quiet, perfect..." My voice sounded shaky and uncertain. I looked around, hoping to find something to focus on so I wouldn't run away from this place at top speed. My eyes landed on a door at the end of the hall. The sign on it read "Classroom D7341-1". An abandoned classroom? That would be the perfect place to study, judging by the thin layer of dust on everything, nobody's been in it for a while. I steeled my nerves and picked up the pace. It was all I could do to stop myself from running, the determination to prove myself coursed through my veins, flowing like liquid fire. I reached the door, grabbed the handle and! ..stopped in my tracks. The drive to show those spoilt brats who's boss ebbed away, being replaced with an overwhelming sense of vertigo. I was on the precipice of something. I was standing at the edge of something big, something that could change everything forever. I felt it in every bone, in every cell in my body. I considered stepping away, but I thought of my mom's face.

I was here because of her. She stood with me, convinced me to apply and because of her fighting for me I got into the most prestigious academy in the country. I couldn't let her down.

I opened the door. I braced myself as the hinges creaked before slowly opening my eyes. It was just a classroom. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and began to laugh. It was ridiculous, working myself up over nothing. That feeling, it was probably just bottled up nerves and stress over enrolling. I shook my head and took a step inside.

Then, I fell.


	2. The marshland

It felt as though the world had been pulled out from under my feet. I fell backwards and instead of hitting the marble floor of the corridor, I tumbled through open air. My surroundings shattered and were replaced by ones I could barely comprehend. Colourful swirling lights rocketed past my head and the rushing air tore away any scream that might have escaped my lungs. My senses were assaulted by sensation after sensation; shocking cold and scorching hot, low thrumming and high pitched screeching, an acrid scent followed by what smelt like bubblegum, everything around me was designed to be as chaotic and confusing as possible. I felt like a ragdoll, being tossed around with no regard. Somehow I managed to roll over so I was stomach down, starfishing like a paraglider, except of course I had no parachute, no training, and no chance of surviving this. I closed my eyes tightly, unable to bare seeing my imminent demise come at me at 150mph. I started praying, but I only got as far as "Dear God(s), what the fu-".

That was when I hit something, but instead of splattering against the earth, I landed on something soft. It stopped my fall in it's tracks, and when I opened my eyes I was surrounded by a pillowy pale indigo... Was I on a cloud? I was still reeling, but I was too glad to be alive to care about the semantics of sitting on a bunch of water vapour that for some reason smelt like freshly picked flowers. I took a moment to let everything catch up to me, which was a mistake. A wave of nausea crashed over me, and it was only the grounding softness of my perch coupled with the sweet scent of gardenias that stopped me from hurling over the edge of that thing. I curled up and lay down, the adrenaline slowly fading and allowing my heartbeat to return to normal. It felt exactly like I imagined a cloud would feel when I was a kid, fluffy and gentle. The floral aroma seemed to engulf me, making my head feel heavy. It was so warm, surprisingly so considering how clouds were meant to work, but I wasn't complaining. I just nestled myself closer to it.

It really felt like it was surrounding me, like a soft blanket being draped over my body. I opened my eyes blearily. I looked to where my body was meant to be and saw more purple cloud. It _was_ surrounding me. I felt a stab of fear and started to thrash about, trying to kick off the warm cotton. For a horrible moment it clung to me, and sharp needles started to hook into my legs and torso. I kept thrashing and fighting, punching and kicking and feeling the claws of the living creature tear at me, until it seemed to get annoyed and let go. It started rocking violently, trying to throw me off. I only had a few seconds to make a choice. I looked down, the ground was a decent fall away, but close enough. I jumped off the creature, and plummeted again. A video I watched months ago about parkour stunts came to mind as I fell, and I tried to remember how they landed. Something about dispersing the impact, and I was out of time. I hit the ground and tried to turn it into a forward roll. It was clumsy and still hurt, but I was alive.

I stood up, groaning. I scanned my surroundings furtively, looking to see any more seemingly nice thing that would try to kill me. The first thing I noticed was the sky. It was a breathtakingly vibrant orange, like you'd see at sunset. However the longer I looked, the more off things jumped out at me... The sun was beaming down from directly overhead, so it wasn't sunrise or sunset. It was all the same colour, no gradients like you'd expect to see normally. Outlined against it I could see what I could only assume were the cloud creatures, and I almost threw up for the second time. There was a variety of pastel fluffy stuff, but on the underside of each one was a mass of wet, constantly wriggling insect like appendages of various sizes, hook shaped spines on each of them being used to pull and manoeuvre the fluffy parts of their bodies. I'd seen first hand how easily one of them could lull and ensnare anything that landed on it, and I could feel how little chance of escape it'd have once their legs were fully wrapped around it. I shuddered, forcing myself to stop staring at them.

Instead, I turned my eyes to the ground. The earth I stood on was a greyish yellow, and stretched out for as far as the eye could see. There was a big lake not far from where I landed, with what looked like hundreds of rivers circling it, flowing away from the centre. At least the water looked normal. The land seemed to be completely flat, and it felt squishy under my feet. It was likely waterlogged, which didn't make me feel much better about the situation. The last thing I needed was to get sucked into a swamp in a weird new world where no-one could find my body. I didn't want to think about what that would be like for my mom, me just disappearing the day I started at my dream school, never to be seen again... I shook my head, there wasn't time for that train of thought. Back to what was happening.

Vegetation, there was a ton of it. Sickly looking grass sprouted everywhere, along the banks of the lake and rivers and spreading over any land with space for it. I turned around and saw where my roll had flattened a landing streak. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, that was kind of funny. My eyes were drawn further along and I was instantly put back on edge. There was another path, exactly the same as the one I'd left except longer, with some tall grass left standing at intervals. Boot prints were embedded in the dirt and trampled grass. There were other people, there had to be. Someone else had been here, recently. The path led towards a crowded treeline in the distance, probably the start of a woods.

Looking around, there wasn't a whole lot I could do. I didn't feel comfortable setting up camp on the squishy ground, and I definitely didn't want to fall asleep while those cloud things circled overhead like vultures. On the other hand, I don't know who made those prints, if they were dangerous or if they even were a who and not a what. But the woods seemed to be my best bet to find resources and get out of the open. I steeled myself and stepped on to the other path, seeing no sense in destroying more turf than necessary. Plus if it suddenly ended I'd know to check for traps. And with that oh so encouraging thought, I was off.

I walked for a while, making sure to match the footprints exactly and keeping my ears open for any signs of movement. The ground slowly felt less waterlogged the further away I got from the big lake, instead taking on a weird crumbly texture, like ash. I reached the treeline, looking back at the marshland one last time. Was I making the right choice? I glanced up at the slimy, writhing hooks of the cloud creatures. I was gonna go for "yes" on this one. I ignored the ache already in my legs and continued on the trail.

The trees looked mostly normal, with a few odd colours and textures thrown in every so often. The sunlight broke through the branches overhead, leaving a blanket of golden shapes dancing across the forest floor. Walking was make more difficult by the ground crumbling at any pressure, I started to lose count of how many time's I'd slipped. Still, it wasn't impossible. I realised that I'd lost the trail I was following, the boot prints had probably been obscured by the moving dirt. I stopped, and looked around. I was surrounded by woodland, I could only hear the rustling of leaves and the distant croak of some animal I hoped to never meet. No sound of talking, no laughing, no sign there were other humans. There was a chance there was no other people in this world at all. I felt very alone.

That surprised me. I was never a social butterfly and I tended to find most people kind of tiresome, but being thrown into a world devoid of any contact whatsoever? I found myself kind of missing other people. The ham-fisted attempts they'd make to get to know me, the awkwardness of asking to partner for a group project, I was almost yearning for all the stuff I'd thought of as irritating. Maybe I just wanted someone to sympathise with what the hell just happened to me. I took another glance around the woods, there wasn't a soul in sight. Right then was when it sank in that I was in a different world, maybe I'd just been hoping that I'd seen traces of another human. Maybe the prints never existed in the first place.

Wait. Up ahead. I heard the sound of water splashing. I hesitated, before taking a couple slow steps forward. It looked like the trees were thinning, maybe there was a clearing! There was something up ahead, that much was certain. I took another quiet step, then another. I was right, there was a clearing. I hid behind a tree, pressing myself close to the rubbery bark and peeking around it. There was a small humanoid figure, on the other side of a wide river. It looked like a little kid. They were talking to themselves, but I was too far away to hear exactly what was being said. The kid had been bouncing around happily, but they suddenly stopped. They tilted their head to the side, before turning around and fixing two large green eyes directly on me. The kid jumped and sprinted away back into the forest. 

"Wait!" I ran out from my hiding spot and into the clearing, but the kid was gone. I slowed to a stop on the bank of the river. It was too wide to jump across, but it didn't look too deep. I looked down at my trousers. They were peppered with little holes and rips from my encounter with the cloud, and the grey was dotted with bloody patches. Still, I didn't want to get them wet alongside all that. I rolled them up above my knees, then took off my shoes and socks. I tossed those to the other side of the river so I could fully focus on crossing safely. Then I waded in.

The water was cold, colder than I expected, and it hurt. The cuts on my legs stung like crazy, telling me that it was probably salt water. Strange, I didn't know saltwater rivers were a thing. I waited and let myself adjust. I took another few steps, I was fully in the river now. I could feel mud and rocks under my feet, slippery and treacherous. I needed to tread carefully, I had to take my time. The cold water bit at my legs, chilling me to the bone. I couldn't take too long either, otherwise I risked my legs going completely numb. I kept walking at a steady pace. I was about halfway across when it started to go wrong.

I felt something swim under my foot, right before I placed it down. I recoiled, and almost slipped backwards. I felt the water churn, was it just me or was it flowing faster? I took another step forward, having to push against the water to place it where I wanted. Something swam past me again, this time in the opposite direction. This time I saw the shape of something dark and eel-like in the water. Another step, I was a third of the way there. The water was definitely faster now, frothing angrily and trying to sweep me away. Fantastic, murderous water. Why the hell not. I took another step, but this one never landed. The thing swam past me, biting the leg I was standing on and dragging me along. I lost my footing and fell into the water with an impressive splash. 

If I thought it was cold on my legs I was wrong. It shocked the breath from my lungs, leaving me gasping desperately for air and getting nothing but a mouthful of salt water. The river pulled me violently downstream. I tried to swim against it, but it was futile. My arms hung at my sides like blocks of ice as I was thrown around. I scraped against rocks, sticks, and something slimy that knew was more eel creatures. I tried to call out for help, but the water rushed into my mouth, drowning out any noise. It shot up my nose and in my ears, as if it was determined to give me as little chance of survival as possible. I started to cry, the tears being pulled out of my face and joining the rest of the stream. I could feel my energy draining. I didn't want to die here, not like this. I survived falling from the sky and sentient insect clouds with needle limbs, drowning seemed so ordinary. So pathetic... I sank, the water closing over my head like a trapdoor and dragging me deeper. The salt stung my eyes, effectively blinding me. I felt movement circling me, the eels. They weren't in a rush, lazily getting closer and making sure I knew they were there, swimming over and under my useless limbs. All I could do was wait for them to strike.


	3. The Heart

They didn't wait for long. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, and saw through stinging eyes the slick grey skin of the eel creature as it started biting. I saw my own blood suspended in the water, a red cloud slowly being dispersed by the thrashing of the eel. The rest of the creatures seemed to take this as a que and started attacking too. Two, three, four, five, six sets of teeth embedded themselves in my legs, arms, and torso. I was almost glad the cold had numbed my body, except for the fact that I couldn't even try to fight them off. My lungs burned, it felt like everything inside me wanted to explode out. I knew I had to hold my breath, but my chest heaved and convulsed and I found myself swallowing yet another mouthful of salt water.

Suddenly I heard a big splash upstream. Another person trying to forge the river? I tried to move, make a scene or just let them know something was up but I couldn't. One of the eels previously snacking on my right arm detached itself and swam up to investigate. I felt the water churn, and I scraped against rocks as the current dragged me along. I felt something grasp my shoulder, and I had just enough time to think "Great, it's back" before I was yanked upwards.

My head broke the surface as my body was flung out of the river. I gasped for air but I still couldn't breathe, the water in my lungs acting as a barrier. I hit the riverbank with a thud and started hacking, trying to clear my lungs. Water flooded out of my nose and mouth with every cough and I started breathing again. I was so happy to be alive that I started laughing, I couldn't stop myself. I knew I wasn't completely out of the woods yet but no longer drowning felt like a great start. 

A shadow fell over my face. I was aware someone was there but I couldn't turn my head to look at them properly. I felt them tugging at me and realised that the eels were probably still attached. One by one the presence removed them, and judging by the distant splashes they threw them back into the river. My saviour leant over me, listening to my haggard breathing and pounding heart. I felt two hands push me and I was rolled on to my back. I looked up at the orange sky, and saw silhouetted above me a pale face with messy straight black hair and two shining green eyes staring right back at me.

"Hi! My name's Salvador, you almost died."

He looked around 8, and was dressed in a dirty white button up shirt and black shorts with black suspenders over his shoulders. Pinned to them was a cartoon style skull badge, the paint worn and flaky revealing an off-white material underneath. His face was gaunt and thin, like he hadn't eaten a proper meal for a while. Despite that, he spoke in a cheerful tone, and smiled brightly at me as he continued to talk. "It really is a bad idea to swim in the river of sorrow, but I'm guessing you figured that out. It gets mad and tries to make you cry so it can get bigger, and it has a really short temper on sunny days. I don't really get that, the sun is so nice and warm! And you get to lie down under it or watch the shapes it makes with the leaves, that's really fun though I'm not really meant to be in the forest because it's too close to the crack in the sky that people fall from sometime. People are dangerous and you shouldn't trust them, Allison keeps telling me that and I do my best because she's really nice and I don't- Hey, you're face is blue!"

I was wondering if it wasn't too late to go back in the river. I lifted my head and looked at myself. My uniform was ruined, and I was bleeding pretty badly. I raised an arm, the tips of my fingers were tinted a dark blue. Bad sign. I looked up at Salvador and tried to speak. "Look, thanks for pulling me out but right now I'm freezing and bleeding and I want to go home. Can you help with any of that?"

He frowned, pressing his lips together as he thought. Then his face lit up and he jumped to his feet. "I think I can make you less cold, and I know someone who can help with the other things!" He started bouncing up and down before running around in a big circle. I sighed, it was probably better than dying of hypothermia. I tried to sit up but a wave of dizziness crashed over me. Salvador stopped running and gestured, making a loose fist and pulling it towards his chest. An invisible force slammed against my back and stayed there, propping me up. I made a surprised yelp, and Salvador smiled apologetically. He turned to the river and steadily reached forward. He grasped the air and pulled slowly. Suddenly there was a white sheet in his hands and I watched as it got longer and longer the further he pulled. Finally the blanket ended and fell from where it was suspended. Salvador tried to rush over to where I was sitting but his legs buckled. He landed in a heap on the ground before untangling himself and opting to slowly scoot over. 

He held out the white sheet and I hesitantly took it. I wrapped it around me and tried to make myself comfortable. I sat back and tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible, doing my best to ignore the rushing river a few feet away. I'd already stopped shivering, it was pretty relaxing. I looked over at Salvador and saw him sat cross-legged, staring into space. If he was pale before his skin was like paper now, and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. He yawned and promptly slumped over. I couldn't see if he was breathing. 

"Salvador?" I called out to him and got no response. Was he okay? I stretched out my arms and legs. Stiff, but I could move them. I carefully crawled closer and shook him gently. He opened his eyes and smiled blearily. His eyes weren't focused, they were drifting towards the space above my head. Or something behind me. I whirled around and find myself facing a person wearing gleaming silver body armour, the lower half of their face obscured by a grey bandana. Their black hair was tied back and in their left hand they held a silver sword, the point of which was aimed right at my throat. They also had green eyes like Salvador, but they were cold and full of hostility. The person spoke, and I realised they were a girl.

"Step away from him."


End file.
